JAKARTA – Planet Mars is currently known as one of the planets that holds a million mysteries. This planet is also claimed to have a past like Earth. No doubt a variety of unique objects are often found such as stones that resemble flowers.
NASA's Curiosity rover robot which is now on the Red Planet has just discovered an interesting rock formation in the form of a flower.
This small object was captured by Curiosity's Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) camera located at the end of its robotic arm.
"Stop and there's a tiny flower on Mars. On February 24, 2022, our @MarsCuriosity rover captured an image of this flower-like rock. Less than a penny, this and a series of other finds are giving scientists insight into the Red Planet's ancient past", said NASA via its official Twitter.
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Curiosity discovered the object on the 3396th Martian day of its exploration mission on the planet while exploring an area of Mars called the Greenheugh Pediment.
At that time, the robot explorer was investigating sedimentary rocks in the area and using the MAHLI camera to see textures in the rocks as well as the Mastcam and ChemCam instruments, which will learn more about the composition of these rocks.
Launching Digital Trends, Monday, March 14. In addition to photographing the striking rock shapes, Curiosity also aggregates the images to form four mosaic images that will cover some of the more distant rock and sand deposits.
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As for this flower-shaped rock, according to NASA, it is not formed from any organic process but is made by mineral deposits carried in water.
Mars is now a dry planet with almost no water or liquid on its surface. But millions of years ago it was claimed there was abundant water there that flowed into the river and created the formations that are still there today.
NASA describes the flower, aka the flower-shaped rock, along with the cobblestone artifact seen to the right of the image, created in the distant past when minerals carried by water cemented the rock.
“Curiosity in the past has uncovered a wide variety of similar small features that form when mineralized fluid travels through channels in the rock. This image of the feature helps scientists understand more about the long history of liquid water in Gale Crater", NASA said.
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